WEEE Ireland, the Irish compliance scheme for electrical and battery recycling, has raised its concerns over the increasing number of non-authorised collections and recycling of WEEE being carried out across Mayo and the whole country.
Despite the recycling of unwanted electrical and battery waste being free and easy to do, not all of this waste from households is making its way back into an authorised system. Authorised recycling operators are permitted and licensed to collect and manage WEEE in an environmentally sound manner. These operators are managed by compliance schemes such as WEEE Ireland on behalf of producers, and are regulated with regular inspections and audits by local authorities and the EPA to ensure that appliances and batteries are dismantled safely and any potentially hazardous materials undergo proper environmental management.
There are several correct and easy ways to recycle waste batteries and unwanted electrical items with WEEE Ireland for free: all unwanted household electrical items and batteries can be brought to your nearest civic amenity site for free recycling. A full list of these locations is available on recyclefree.ie If you are planning on updating any electrical items in your home, do not forget how easy it is to bring back your now unwanted electronic goods to the same retailer for free recycling. Take part in a special free WEEE collection event in your area. Check recylefree.ie for a list of upcoming public collection days. Portable waste batteries can also be brought back for free recycling to any battery retailer that sells similar batteries, even if you do not purchase anything. Household batteries such as AA, AAA, and button cell batteries can be brought back to your local supermarket, newsagent, or discount store. Simply place them in the blue WEEE Ireland battery recycling box. Car batteries can be brought back to your local garage or motor factors, and electric fence batteries can be brought to your local agri-store.
